Modeling Viscoelastic Dielectrics
Dielectric elastomer, as an important category of electroactive polymers, is known to have viscoelastic properties that strongly affect its dynamic performance and limit its application. Very few models accounting for the effects of both electrostatics and viscoelasticity exist in the literature, and even fewer are capable of making reliable predictions under general loads and constraints. Based on the principals of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, this paper develops a field theory that fully couples the large inelastic deformations and electric fields in deformable dielectrics.